1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer programs for communications. Specifically, the invention is designed to provide a method and system thereof for confirming that attachments are made to relevant email messages prior to their transmission.
2. Related Art
Electronic mail (email) has become a common mode of communication.
It is fast, inexpensive, simple, and accessible. As such, communication between individuals, between individuals and groups, between groups, and organizations of all sizes, ubiquitously and increasingly, flows by this mode.
Messages transmitted by email may vary in size and scope, from the simplest one-line queries, notes, acknowledgments, and greetings, etc., to elaborate communiqués. Often, information is transmitted by email outside the message itself, as an attachment to the message, in other than an email message format. Attachments may include documents, pictures, spreadsheets, sound and/or video, and a virtually unlimited host of other electronic information formats.
To transmit information by an email attachment, most commonly an email sender addresses a message to the intended recipient, e.g., an addressee. They usually, though not always, prepare an email message in email format, attach a file to be transmitted with the note as an email attachment, and send the email to the addressee.
To transmit an email message with accompanying attachments successfully, an email sender must remember that the message being prepared requires the attachment of a message. To transmit information via email attachments to certain individuals requiring the information, an email user must remember the addressees who require such attachments.
Quite often, the email sender may forget to attach the information intended for transmission to the message prior to sending the message. Thus, addressees, e.g., the intended recipient of the information, receives an email message, perhaps referring to attached information, but without the information attached. Furthermore, the sender will not get an error message because the email software did not know that an attachment was required.
This is an annoyingly common mistake. In one survey, estimates from individuals queried ranged from 10% to 50% of the incidence of times wherein he/she sends an email message with an attachment, a first transmission of the email message was sent prior to affixing the attachment. This has discernible deleterious results including excessive email transmission, lost time, lost productivity, embarrassment, confusion, and the possibility of delay in transmitting important, time-sensitive information.
An email user sending a message to which an attachment is desired must remember to attach the information intended for transmission. Conventionally, a user may rely on memory and concentration to realize that affixing an attachment is required before sending an email message. However, forgetfulness and preoccupation render this a problematic and ineffective solution.
Another conventional approach an email-user may take is to make manual lists of certain individuals or groups to whom his messages normally require attachments, or use other pneumonic aids, such as post-it notes to remind him or herself to affix attachments prior to sending email. However, the user must then remember, or take the time, to consult the lists. Further, pneumonic aids may be inconvenient, cluttersome, easily lost or covered, incompatible with locale and/or schedule, and inaccurate.
A further conventional approach may be to prompt a user each and every time an email message is to be transmitted as to whether or not an attachment is desired. However, this may become annoying, distracting, and confusing for some users, and require extra effort and time to respond in the negative, e.g., that no attachment is desired, to enable a send function. This may result in disabling, e.g., turning off, the prompting feature by many users, effectively negating whatever benefit it could provide. Thus, conventional approaches to solving this problem are ineffective.